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The Digital Pivot explains online and digital marketing for online cautious small business owners.

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I recently received a review copy of The Digital Pivot: Secrets of Online Marketing from Eric Schwartzman. It’s a shame this guy didn’t have that.

“We hate to do that, but we’re going to have to let you go. The pandemic brought orders to a standstill and I think we just rushed into this digital marketing process too early. “

This is an excerpt from a real conversation that a community member of mine had about two weeks ago.

A local manufacturer did the most unthinkable, the “stupidest” thing you can do when the market stalled – the one Person who set up a digital marketing machine that guaranteed new leads and new customers on autopilot – their marketing director!

Do you remember the famous scene from Taxi Driver in which Robert Deniro is standing in front of the mirror and “You are talking to me?”

Yes – I’m talking to you mr business owner who just stopped an online marketing funnel that you should have built a decade ago and which paid off almost immediately once the post-pandemic supply opened.

Fair warning my dear Small Business Readers, this review is written from the perspective of a marketer advising small business owners like you – rather than corporate organization executives.

Please don’t fire your marketing rep or digital marketing agency, consultant, or anyone else who is trying to build you a marketing machine that will help you attract and retain customers in today’s digital marketplace.

What makes “The Digital Pivot” so special

If you’re a marketer, Schwartzman preaches to the choir. What you will get out of this book may be some new ways to explain digital marketing to customers or employers who don’t understand.

If you are a small business owner, you are given a book that was written for you. Scwartzman doesn’t go to college. He meets his readers where they stand with their understanding of marketing; as an advertising function.

He starts by explaining the art of pivot. I love his use of the ballet analogy because it addresses the fact that something that looks elegant and effortless actually requires insane technical skill and discipline.

Next, he delves into data-driven marketing. If you’re the type of business owner who shuns marketing because you thought it was too “fluffy” and creative – this will change your mind. Schwartzman vividly explains the power and knowledge that digital marketing data can offer to take the guesswork out of marketing.

With that understanding, you are ready to learn more about stacks, automation and funnels, SEO, email, content marketing, blogging, podcasting, and more.

It’s the closest thing to an executive-level marketing overview how you’re going to get it. It will show you the power of digital marketing and you will definitely understand why it matters and why, if you need to cut costs somewhere, marketing should NOT be the starting point.

A few words about the marketing process

Schwartzman covers pretty much everything you need to know to implement a successful digital marketing program. But as a marketer who has seen too many small business owners overwhelmed, I’ll add one thing that is missing; an indication of the marketing process and where The digital pivot fits into the overall process. I think this would provide valuable context for non-marketers.

To be fair, Schwartzman has a complete executive training program called The Digital Pivot Program, devoted to the process he outlines here in the book The digital pivot.

There is a process and a framework here. And it’s effective. You just need to know that it is aimed at panning your business from analog to digital marketing. This book assumes that you have your marketing together and just need to move to digital.

Small business owners need to know and understand that there is a comprehensive marketing process that supports powerful strategic decisions. The digital pivot process focuses on the implementation and measurement part of the marketing process.

Without the support of this overall process, you will not have the critical strategic direction you need to be successful in the world of digital marketing.

Marketers know that. It’s ingrained in those of us who live the marketing process every day. We do this intuitively and it’s easy to forget that people with no marketing background don’t.

Back to the ballet dancer doing a pirouette example out of the book – getting into digital marketing activities like email or SEO without doing research, choosing an ideal client, making an offer, etc. is like a non-ballerina trying to pirouette to do in Carnegie Hall – very ugly.

What Qualifies Eric Schwarzman for Demystifying Online Marketing?

Eric Schwartzman is a digital marketing consultant and entrepreneur. He led digital marketing initiatives for Boeing, Britney Spears, Cirque du Soleil, Johnson & Johnson, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the Olympic Games, the US State Department, and dozens of small and medium-sized businesses.

He led promotions at a global PR agency, founded a content management SaaS platform provider with clients such as Dunkin ‘Donuts, Linkedin, NVIDIA, and Verizon, and ran the digital innovation center at a $ 1 billion company, where he pivots from native to enterprise software and developed an online marketplace.

What are you going to do with your copy of? The digital pivot?

I personally keep my review copy of The digital pivot because Schwartzman is a master at explaining digital marketing and all of its moving parts in a way that balances technical accuracy and simplicity. I’ll use it as a reference when I need to explain every aspect of digital marketing to a CEO or business owner. If you are a professional marketer I would recommend you do the same.

If you’re a business consultant, you definitely want this book to hand. It will help you understand and explain online marketing and all of its moving parts so you can develop systems, processes, and operational strategies to support it.

Finally, if you’re a CEO or business owner who is struggling to pull the trigger on a digital marketing strategy, or you’re wondering whether to keep investing in digital marketing, I recommend reading this book as soon as possible.

Regardless of your role in business, digital marketing is a necessity and The digital pivot helps you build your online marketing machine.

Image: amazonas